Roof structure



0% 5 M MILLAN CLEMENTS ,8

ROOF STRUCTURE Filed Jan. 4, 1951 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 20, 1953 UNITED STATES *PAT'ENT =YFF-ICE 2,655,3 ROOF s'rnoc'rons MaqMillan cle sceae Gonn- A pplicati on January 4, 1951, Serial No.204,429 fila ms- (Q1. .103-Y1) This invention relates to a roof structure and provides improved roof structure characteristics as hereinafter stated.

Roof constructions now being used, as well as those represented by the prior art, both in issued patents and in publications, if they are to incorporate normal roof construction, cannot be manufactured in large part at the factory, but must be constructed entirely during the normal erection of the house, or other building. The shortage of man power, and particularly skilled metal-Working roofers, has made it necessary to find a practical solution for this problem.

The portion of the roof which includes the support therefor such as the rafters, trusses or framing system can be assembled without undue waste of labor or material in the construction thereof. The problem, therefore, is not in the erection of these supports, but rather in the roof itself, or preferably in the combination of the roof with the rafters which have been erected, and the present invention utilizes the usual rafters, trusses or framing system that is being used today with the modifications that are described hereinafter.

It is preferred to use light-weight prefabricated trusses including various forms of materials as the supporting means for the roof per se, modified as hereinafter described, but the particular type of rafters, trusses or framing system forms no part of the present invention, since the present invention is equally applicable to common rafter construction.

It is an object of the invention, therefore, to utilize an outer layer of the roof .of this invention which forms an absolute vapor barrier, and which preferably is extremely thin. This outer layer is permanently attached to, preferably at the factory, an under layer which is somewhat thicker, and which is constructed of organic material such as plywood or hardboard, thereby providing a membrane or covering of very high strength and great resilience, and which offers. high membrane or bursting strength.

A further object of the invention is the utilization of membranes or coverings of high residual strength whereby to accomplish the accumulated effect of the usual laboriously sheathed and shingled roof construction. The invention, therefore, contemplates a membrane or covering which may be applied to the supporting frame of the roof as a single composite layer upon such conventional rafter or roof framing.

An additional object of the invention is to provide amembraneor covering which will include a structure as set forth andcjla-imed in myPatent No. 2,149,882, granted March 7, 1939, which discloses a membrane or covering having a groove formed of sides which make an obtuse angle in the backing material whether this be of plywood, hardboard or other organic material, the

said groove performing a special function which enables the membrane .or covering to be so shaped at the time of application to the rafter or roof support as to conform to the specially formed surfaces thereof.

An additional object is to use the construction set forth in the next preceding paragraph so as to form a drain for theroof.

Yet another object is to provide a construction as set forth in the two preceding paragraphs which will form a groove for the reception of a sealing compound for sealing .the valley that forms the drain .of the roof.

A further object is to provide a roof which includes a membrane constructed of a plurality of preformed panels of special construction which may be bent to conform to the roof frame pieces, and a combination of such bent panels with a rafter having surfaces which conform to the bent portions of the panels and form a roof drain in a flat or substantially fiat roof construction.

An additional object is to provide a roof constructed of panels having an outer layer which forms a vapor barrier and an under layer having a shallow groove such as a V groove, said groove preferably being parallel to the long edge of each panel and located fairly close to said long edge such that when placed in position on the framing member with the continuous and unsevered waterproof membrane upward, the depending flanges between the groove and the said long edges will conform with, and can be affixed to, by nailing, or otherwise, the inclined sides of the said rafter member. vision is made for applying the panels to the Thus, prorafter members in a progressive and rapid manner.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide panel members having grooves parallel to their long edges and adjacent thereto providing flanges which are of a width which is less than the inclined sides of the rafter to which they are applied, resulting in the forming of a space between the non-.meeting side edges of the juxtaposed side for the reception of caulking or sealing material in said space.

A further object of the invention is to proforming the backing of the panels.

vide a roof structure which may function as a flat roof, and which also provides a good water shed which does not require caulking by experienced roofers. The only caulking required may be applied by unskilled workers as hereinafter shown and described.

Other objects will appear hereinafter throughout the specification.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a, top plan view partly broken away of the roof;

Figure 2 is a vertical section of the structure shown in Figure 1, taken on the line 2-2 thereof; and,

Figure 3 is a perspective view, partly broken away of one of the roof panels before bending of one of its adjacent side portions.

The letter A indicates the roof structure as a whole, and it will be appreciated that this roof structure is characterized by a structure that will function as a flat roof with ample draining facilities and that caulking in the ordinary sense is unnecessary. Further, the present roof structure includes panels having sides and rafters, the said panel sides and rafters being of novel construc tion whereby each cooperates with the other to attain the desired objectives, of lightness, cheap-= ness of construction and erection, excellent water shedding qualities and being of very high strength, great resilience and which is fatigue re-' sistant to an unusual degree.

The panels l and 2 may be constructed of any suitable material, but preferably each is provided with a skin 3 and 4 of thin sheet metal, such, for

example, as stainless steel or aluminum that is readily deformable as to be described. Preferably also the backing layer 5 and 6 of each panel, comprises a plurality of thin layers of wood adhesively secured to each other and to each skin 3 and s, as shown and described in my Patent No. 2,149,882 granted March 7, 1939.

Each backing is providedwith notches, or V- grooves l and 3, respectively, said notches or grooves terminating preferably beneath the layer of each panel, which directly underlies the metal skin, such as skin 3. A portion of the panel before bending is shown in Figure 3. Adjacent side edge portions of each panel are bent, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, so as to conform to the rafter or roof supporting member 9.

This rafter has flat upper surfaces H and I? as seen in Figure 2, but these surfaces may be omitted in some constructions, and the inclined surfaces :3 and i6 may extend to the sides of said beam.

The meeting inclined surfaces l3 and Hi merge into a trough [5.

The panels are attached to the beam by suitable securing means such as the nails [6, ll, in such manner as to expose and space the meeting panel edges. This space and the trough l5 lying immediately below the same is filled with a suitable caulking material l8 after the juxtaposed side portions [9 and 2!] have been bent on the lines formed by the grooves and 8 to form a sealing groove, and so as to lie closely against the inclined surfaces [3 and Id of the beam and to form an acute angle with the major exposed surface of each panel skin 3 and 4.

It will be understood that the number of beams used will depend upon the length of the panels and their length is dependent upon the thickness of each panel and the thickness of the metal strip as well as the strength of the Wooden strips The area of the roof itself will also determine the number of beams used.

While I have described one form of the invention, it will be understood that variations in size, shape and in materials may be resorted to. Without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims. For instance, the backing has been described as comprising wood strips, but it will be understood that any other backing material, such as a single or multiple layer hardboard, fiberboard or other building materials may be substituted for that shown.

I claim:

1. A roof structure comprising a plurality of roof panels, a beam, said beam having a top portion provided with upper flat surfaces adjacent the side edges thereof and terminating with inwardly inclined surfaces merging into a central trough, each of said panels having a metallic outer skin and an under layer of rigid non-metallic material, each of said panels having a groove in the under layer spaced from one of the side edges thereof to provide an end portion bent to the desired angle to conform to the inclination of one of the inclined sides of said top beam portion and a main panel portion, said portions being separated from each other by said groove, the said non-metallic under layer of each end portion of each panel being in face-to-face contact with one of said beam inclined portions and one of said beam flat portions being in face-to--face contact with the non-metallic surface of said main portion which lies adjacent to said panel groove, the side juxtaposed edges of a pair of said panels facing each other, each facing edge being composed of a layer of said metallic skin material and a layer of said rigid non-metallic material, and means for attaching said panels to said beam.

2. A roof structure comprising a plurality of roof panels, a beam, said beam having a top portion provided with upper flat surfaces adjacent the side edges thereof and terminating with inwardly inclined surfaces merging into a central trough, each of said panels having a metallic outer skin and an under layer of rigid non-metallic material, each of said panels having a groove in the under layer spaced from one of the side edges thereof to provide an end portion bent to the desired angle to conform to the inclination of one of the inclined sides of said top beam portion and a main panel portion, said portions being separated from each other by said groove, the said non-metallic layer of each end portion of each panel being in face-to-face contact with one of said beam inclined portions and one of said beam fiat portions being in face-to-face contact with the non-metallic surface of said main portion which lies adjacent to said panel groove, the side juxtaposed edges of a pair of said paneis facing each other, each facing edge being composed of a layer of said metallic skin material and a layer of said rigid non-metallic material, and the said edges being spaced from each other to form a sealing groove, sealing material in said groove in direct contact with the said juxtaposed panel side edges, and means for attaching said panels to said beam.

3. A roof structure comprising a plurality of roof panels, a beam, said beam having a top portion provided with upper flat surfaces adjacent the side edges thereof and terminating with in wardly inclined surfaces merging into a central trough, each of said panels having a metallic outer skin and an under layer of rigid non-metallic material, each of said panels having a groove in the under layer spaced from one of the side edges thereof to provide an end portion bent to the desired angle to conform to the inclination of one of the inclined sides of said top beam portion and a main panel portion, said portions being separated from each other by said groove, the said non-metallic layer of each end portion of each panel being in face-to-face contact with one of said beam inclined portions and one of said beam flat portions being in face-to-face contact with the non-metallic surface of said main portion which lies adjacent to said panel groove, the side juxtaposed edges of a pair of said panels facing each other, each facing edge being composed of a layer of said metallic skin material and a layer of said rigid non-metallic material, and the said edges being spaced from each other to form a sealing groove, sealing material in said groove in direct contact with the said juxtaposed panel side edges, and means for attaching said panels to said beam, said means for attaching said panels to said beam comprising a plurality of nails extendin through the end portions of said panels including the metallic and non-metallic layers thereof, and extending into the in clined portions of said beam.

MACNHLLAN CLEMENTS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 582,160 Honhorst May 4, 1897 1,166,510 Brown .1 Jan. 4, 1916 1,439,434 Munro Dec. 19, 1922 1,669,667 Levine May 15, 1928 1,967,846 Utzman July 24, 1934 2,005,994 Hohl June 25, 1935 2,102,455 Bonsall Dec. 14, 1937 2,149,882 Clements Mar. '7, 1939 2,452,640 Elmendorf Nov. 2, 1948 

